Kyle Rayner
"Listen, I'm not afraid to go down fighting, but dying here today will accomplish '''nothing'. Look, there's an old saying back on Earth, "Where there is life, there is hope." You feel me?"'' Character Stat Sheet Public Information Kyle Rayner is a struggling art student and freelance graphic designer and illustrator based out of San Francisco. As a Green Lantern Kyle began his career while still in his teens, serving for years as a "Deputy" Green Lantern after Hal's ring created a duplicate to go find a suitable wielder to help him in a particularly heinous situation. Following the incident, Kyle was an early member of the Titans and operated alongside them until after the Merge, where he travelled to Oa and was granted full Green Lantern status after months of particularly grueling training. He has since returned to Earth and rejoined the Titans' senior team. History Kyle Rayner was born in 1990 to Aaron and Maura Rayner. His parents had enjoyed a whirlwind courtship and marriage, and unbeknownst to Kyle, his father was actually named Gabriel Vasquez, and was a low-level agent for the agency called International Operations. He had been living in a form of "witness protection" after his efforts had helped curtail a supervillainous plot, but when Kyle was still a young child (about 6 years old), his past started to catch up to him, and rather than place his family in danger, Gabriel/Aaron regretfully left them behind. Maura was aware of his reasons by then, and even helped concoct a "domestic violence" story to explain his sudden departure. And so Gabriel Vasquez sacrificed his life as "Aaron Rayner" and a family he loved to protect them. Kyle would never realize just how much of his father he actually had in him, and grew up resentful of his abandonment and confused by his mother's seeming acceptance and forgiveness of his absentee father. Maura proved to be an excellent parent, though, and worked hard to make sure Kyle was provided for while he grew up in the suburbs of San Francisco. When he evidenced artistic talent at a young age, she encouraged it strongly. She supported him in his schooling and was an all-around great mom despite how hard she worked. So Kyle grew up, and his life was generally pretty OK. He got good grades but not perfect marks. He played a lot of sports, but when he made the varsity squads it was more for his work ethic and "can-do" attitude rather than great skill. He had a lot of friends but wasn't quite in the "popular kids" clique. He was artistic, but not the withdrawn, angsty type of artist, even as a teenager. He was well-behaved, but did get in minor trouble a couple of times. Basically? He was an average guy. He did, however, have (in his mildly biased opinion) a way-better-than-average girl. Alexandra DeWitt had been Kyle's best friend practically since Kindergarten. They had grown up together and seen each other through thick and thin. When they hit their teenage years, Alexandra ended up being a knockout (like "did some modeling" gorgeous), and their friendship eventually shifted to something romantic. Unlike a million horror stories about ruined friendships and awkwardness and miscommunication...it worked. It worked really well, as a matter of fact. They were "that couple" all through High School. The one that everyone figured was headed for 2.3 kids and the white picket fence. The one that would be together forever. After a while they actually started to believe it too. They graduated high school and were on their way to figuring out their future plans when things took a turn for the complicated. Really, really complicated. Kyle was leaving his part-time job as a busboy at a local restaurant late one night, exhausted by a rough shift, and frustrated by the fact that he was looking at heading to Community College in the fall after a local Art School proved beyond his (and his mother's) means, when a streak of green light caught his eye. Then it swooped down, and suddenly there was a glowing green ring appearing in front of him saying something to the effect of "You have been chosen by the Star Leag-" oh wait, that's a different story, more along the lines of, "You have been conscripted for duty as a deputy Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814. Your primary is currently in danger. Proceed to assist." Kyle had heard stories of the "Green Lantern" who had been operating for about a year, mostly on the West Coast. Intrigued and more than a little bit eager, Kyle put the ring on, and not only immediately found himself in a costume, but streaking across the sky towards Coast City, where the Green Lantern Hal Jordan had been subdued by Sinestro and a group of Qwardian Weaponers. Kyle freed Hal from confinement and summoned his power battery so he could recharge (all of course done with plenty of instruction from the ring he was wearing), and the pair proceeded to run Sinestro off and defeat the Weaponers. At first, Hal was not at all keen on the idea of having a "kid" sidekick (even if Kyle was 17 at the time). He very nearly reclaimed the "deputy" ring Kyle had been granted, but something stayed his hand, and somehow or another, they ended up partners. It was probably a good thing, too, as Kyle soon needed a friend. He was intending to tell Alexandra about his new superheroic identity, and had even taken her on a nice date to set it up. Unfortunately, in the middle of the date a team of International Operations Black Razors attacked, attempting to subdue and capture Kyle, who had apparently been under heavy observation due to his father's identity, and thus IO had learned of the superheroic twist his life had taken. In the midst of the battle, with the still-inexperienced Kyle trying to fight off the highly-trained operatives, Alexandra was hit by a stray ricochet, and died almost instantly. When the ring stopped working a few moments later because Kyle intended to lash out with lethal intent, it looked like IO was going to get what it wanted, but then Hal showed up and mopped up the Black Razors. It was small consolation that they would in fact be successfully prosecuted for their crimes, though IO disavowed them as a "rogue element" that had been operating without orders. Still, the incident was among those that would persuade the JLA against allowing IO as their government liasion, so in some small way, Kyle did perhaps get a measure of justice for Alexandra's death. Kyle might have given up the superhero gig if it wasn't for Hal and Maura. Maura was a sharp enough lady to put two and two together, and with some smartphone footage of "Teen Lantern's" battle with the Black Razors coupled with Alexandra's death, she realized that Kyle had a superheroic identity. For once, Hal gave some good advice, and told Kyle that a superhero, much more so a Green Lantern, was going to face a lot of hardship and pain, but that in the end the good they do had to be enough to make it worth it. Maura told Kyle she was proud of him, and that she would support him in whatever decision he made...but that she knew he had it in him to be a great hero. With their support, Kyle resolved that he would continue as a (Deputy) Green Lantern. Over the next year or so Hal helped teach Kyle how the Ring worked and they faced several foes and challenges together. It wasn't always the smoothest relationship, as Kyle quickly came to realize that while Hal might kick ass as a Green Lantern, his life outside of superheroing was kind of a wreck. That, and he recognized that while Hal did at least TRY to do a good job of training him, he was a guy that had enough trouble taking care of himself, much less trying to look after someone else. It was rather a relief to Kyle when he met John Stewart. While the pair weren't as close as Hal and Kyle, at least John seemed to have himself together. While Kyle was not among the VERY first of that group of "sidekicks" that started palling around together in 2008, he was the first addition beyond Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wonder Girl in the "proto-Titans." Having a new group of friends and peers that understood the heroic life and had their own experiences to share helped Kyle come to terms with Alexandra's death once and for all, and fully accept his role as a superhero, even if he always did really hate the "Teen Lantern" codename he'd initially been stuck with (Hey, at least it wasn't "Kid Lantern.") Kyle was present in 2009 when his friends joined with the Tamaranean Princess Koriand'r, Vic Stone, Garfield Logan, and Rachel Roth to defeat the menace of Trigon, and so he became a member of the team when they finally formalized their existence as the "Teen Titans." Between the Titans and the Green Lanterns of Earth, Kyle would see plenty of action and adventure over the next few years, both on Earth and in space. Most notably, he was present when Sinestro began forming his own Corps, and facing off against the newly-minted Sinestro Corps member known as Nero, who would more or less become Kyle's "arch-enemy." When the Sinestro Corps War finally erupted, Kyle was left behind on Earth while Hal and John took to the stars to do battle, but soon saw plenty of combat when the War spilled over to Earth. Kyle was among those Lanterns that still refused to use lethal force when the restrictions on the ring were removed. With the Titans, Kyle would help them battle menaces such as the Brotherhood of Evil, the HIVE, The Cult of Blood, and the Fearsome Five, as well as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke the Terminator and minions of Trigon. He proved a valuable addition to the team when they were called into space to Tamaran, where Koriand'r would do battle with her sister. Over time, Kyle grew close to Donna Troy, and eventually they entered a romantic relationship, much to the good-natured chagrin of the other original Titans. Then, much like before, tragedy struck. While battling a robot that had been designed to combat Superman, several of the Titans perished or were seriously injured. Among the casualties was Donna Troy. Kyle was a late arrival to the battle...too late to save her...though his power did prove instrumental in defeating the machine. With the entire team (particularly Kyle) devastated by the deaths, and several members out of commission, the Titans disbanded for nearly a year. Kyle spent most of that year trying to rebuild something of a normal life. Not that he completely avoided operating as a Green Lantern, but he started taking college classes more regularly (having only managed spotty attendance in the intervening years). Still, the call of super-heroing was a powerful one, and when the Titans re-formed, dropping the "Teen" from their name and taking on the mission of training younger heroes, Kyle readily re-joined his friends as a member of their "Senior Squad." He found he actually was a decent trainer and teacher, particularly when it came to matters involving space combat and interstellar affairs. When the Merge occurred, Hal Jordan and John Stewart found themselves embroiled in the happenings on Earth. Despite the immense threat to all reality that the Merge represented, there were many groups and individuals in Space Sector 2814 that attempted to take advantage of the chaos, and by hook or by crook, it fell to Kyle to try to put out all the "little fires" while the older Lanterns helped take care of the "biggest one." Over the course of several weeks (because incidents occurred well beyond the staving off of the Merge as some of those aforementioned groups and individuals tried to take advantage in the aftermath), Kyle stopped an alien armada from invading and conquering a peaceful neighboring species, apprehended 3 criminals wanted by the Corps (one of whom was a Sinestro Corps member), and prevented an artificially-induced black-hole from devouring an inhabited star system. Amazingly given how thick-headed he could be, when Kyle finally returned to Earth, Hal actually realized that it was probably long past time that Kyle pay a visit to Oa and earn his own Green Lantern Ring. At Hal's recommendation, and with plenty of documentation of his activities provided by the Deputy ring he'd been wearing for years, Kyle was accepted for training by the Guardians. After he worked with the Titans and his mother to help maintain the illusion Kyle Rayner was still on Earth while he was gone (Gosh it's great having a Martian on the team, isn't it?) he accompanied Hal to Oa for the first time. He didn't know it at the time, but the Guardians instructed Kilowog, their chief trainer, to be extra-hard on Kyle, and boy did he follow-through on that. Kyle spent the better part of a year on Oa, and despite the grueling and difficult regimen of training that Kilowog placed before him, Kyle rose to the occasion and overcame every challenge placed before him, in many cases greatly exceeding anyone's expectations for him. Along the way, one of the Guardians by the name of Ganthet seemed to take a personal interest in Kyle, giving subtle encouragement and cryptic advice to him at critical moments (Hence being dubbed by Kyle: "Blue Yoda"). Eventually, even Kilowog grew frustrated, not with the fact that Kyle was beating his challenges, but because the Guardians kept demanding more and more difficult ones be given to him. Kyle had already spent nearly three times the standard amount of time in training, and had already triumphed in scenarios that would have given many veteran Lanterns difficulty. When the Guardians suggested a training scenario that Kilowog knew was not only unwinnable but quite likely to get Kyle injured trying, the big fella put his foot down and "politely" informed the Guardians that in his opinion Kyle had completed his training with honor and distinction, and that "If my opinion ain't good enough t' warrant graduation, then you can find some other poozer to wear this dress!" Of course, Kyle himself knew none of this, and was kind of surprised when he was informed that he had been accepted as a Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814. In the cryptic fashion which seemed to define his relationship with Kyle, the Guardian Ganthet did...something...to Kyle's ring prior to him departing back for Earth. Kyle has no idea what the difference is beyond the fact that the ring apparently is tuned to Kyle's DNA (which apparently is not a usual feature for a Green Lantern ring). After Kilowog took Kyle out to celebrate his graduation (a celebration to which Hal and John soon arrived), and after a few days spent recovering from said celebration, Kyle finally returned to Earth, no longer a sidekick, but now a full-fledged Green Lantern in his own right. Personality Imaginative - Kyle is an artist and has a vivid imagination. While this is a boon in his artistic pursuits, it actually helps to make him a more effective Green Lantern, as he is capable of "thinking outside the box" when it comes to his ring constructs and even so far as how to apply the powers of his ring. He often comes up with solutions that other Lanterns simply wouldn't think of. Optimist - Kyle's had a lot of pain and hardship in the years he's been a superhero, but he still maintains an upbeat and positive outlook. Yes, he acknowledges that bad things happen and that it sucks when they do, but in the grand scheme of things, he really does believe that things will eventually get better, even if you might have to work to make it so. Work In Progress - Kyle is big on self-improvement. This is reflected both in his artistic pursuits, where he constantly works to improve his skills and revises his works to improve them, and in his life as a Green Lantern, where he works actively to learn new things and become a more skilled and effective superhero. He's an avid learner and works hard to try to absorb the lessons he learns from mentors, friends, and life in general alike. Protective - Kyle tends to be naturally protective of people. This doesn't just include his family and friends, but rather extends to innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of superheroic combat. So Kyle's first instincts in a fight are usually to make sure all the innocents and good guys are OK before he starts trying to beat on the bad guy. He tends slightly more towards defense than offense, not that he isn't capable of dishing out plenty of punishment when the coast is clear, nor is he incapable of realizing that sometimes the best defense really is a powerful offense. Idealist - Kyle is generally quite morally upstanding and believes in doing the right things for the right reasons. He's conscientious about the use of his powers, generally refuses to kill even though the corps have authorized lethal force, and tries to (for the most part) behave like he thinks a superhero should behave. That doesn't mean he's a saint, or that he's uptight or prudish, but as "white-hats" go his is pretty spotless. Basically, being a superhero is about more than flying around with cool powers...it's about making a positive difference in the world. Outgoing - Kyle's a pretty naturally outgoing and friendly fellow. He tends to make friends pretty easily. He's also a bit of a flirt. Either way, Kyle generally has little difficulty talking to people. The idea of chatting up a stranger holds no fear or discomfort for him. This has proven more useful than one might think as a Green Lantern, as he can at times be something of a natural diplomat. Determined - Kyle very much as a "never say die" attitude and will fight tooth and nail even against seemingly hopeless odds. The concept of failure rarely occurs to him, not out of arrogance, but simply in the refusal to accept it until it's absolutely certain. Moreover, when he does fail, it's not the kind of thing that breaks him. He'll get up, dust himself off, absorb the lesson, and try again with a different approach. Note that "failure" and "being wrong" are not the same thing. The reason Kyle is "determined" instead of "stubborn" is because he is perfectly willing to acknowledge that he might be wrong, listen to reason, and adjust accordingly. He digs in his heels in terms of keeping up his efforts, not in terms of assuming his way is the only way. Logs Category:DC Features Category:Elite Characters Category:Iron Will Category:1990 Births Category:Humans Category:Green Lantern Corps Category:Titans Category:Taken Characters